Vanished
by WryTerra
Summary: Section 9 finds a hostage rescue situation is more complicated than they thought.
1. Prologue

(Author's note: For anyone unfamiliar with Ghost in the Shell, the team members have sub-brains which allow them to communicate without speaking. Now we all know they can, I can tell you anything in 'single quotations' is sub-brain communication and differentiated from "double quotations" which represents, as usual, regular speaking.  
_Update: This document has been edited from its original form, for the curious, I changed the spelling of Batou and Borma's name to accurately reflect the spelling in the SAC credits. I also changed Eagle-Eye to Hawk-Eye in line with the english language dub of the show._)

A small back-room attached to a warehouse in the industrial part of town was an unlikely setting for a high-level diplomatic meeting. Likely or not, Ayato Hamada sat in a collapsible chair nursing a glass of sake and looking across the cheep folding table on which the bottle stood at his obviously American host. The man was large, broad rather than tall, his light blonde hair cut in a military style crop that didn't quite fit with his tailored suit. He had a rugged face which looked as if he shaved with a serrated blade and his bulk was severely testing the strength of the seat below him. Unlike Ayato who seemed nervous, even flighty, he was smiling broadly as he enjoyed his drink. Below the table a briefcase stood between them. It was a standard government issue case; metallic with a low pulsing red light engrained in the handle to signify sensitive contents.

"To a greater cooperation between our nations," the seated figure proposed and raised his glass in an obvious toast. He waited for Ayato to return the gesture before he added, "even if it is of a slightly unorthodox nature, eh?" With that he downed the glass and set it down. Ayato for his part took one nervous sip and returned the glass to where he cradled it between his hands, turning it constantly between them to have something to do.

Another American stood slightly behind the seated figure. Larger even than his evident superior this silent figure was obviously his muscle. Probably a cyborg, Ayato mused. Human or not, he was certainly armed. There was no subtlety about the sub-machine pistol slung from his shoulder even if it was mostly for show. The weapon hung loose at his hip as the man stood with his arms folded, observing. This one looked even less comfortable in his suit still. Whilst still exquisitely tailored, the material had trouble moving with the heavily muscled shape within it, creasing and stretching in peculiar places across his upper arms and chest. The dark mid-length hair and sunglasses only added to the imposing presence.

The only other person present stood behind the intelligence analyst. Although not as intimidating in appearance as his counter-part, Togusa was Ayato's muscle. Roughly average build, light brown hair, a grey suit and a 9mm pistol in a shoulder holster and Togusa could have passed for a civil servant. Specifically he was an official bodyguard.

Approximately two months beforehand, Ayato's own department within Section 7 had uncovered a plot to kidnap one of their agents. Further investigation had indicated he himself would be the one at risk. Meanwhile, Togusa's own Section 9 had also learnt of the plot and had quietly worked him into the position of Ayato's bodyguard. That sort of inter-office manipulation was frowned upon but the chief of Section 9, Aramaki Daisuke, had always taken the 'what they don't know won't hurt them' view of lesser agencies.

Of the four, only Togusa knew that there was a lot less privacy in the room than the others' present could have guessed. Togusa, though mostly human, did have at least the minimal sub-brain implant which allowed him to communicate with the other members of Section 9. It also allowed him to broadcast what he could see and hear which is precisely what he was doing.

Batou was on the roof above him, receiving the transmission. He was posted there with Motoko Kusanagi, the two of them ready to provide backup if the situation should turn. Across from them, on the roof opposite, Borma was also eavesdropping. He was partnered with Saito. The sharpshooter was lain down, his .50 calibre sniper rifle laying in its bipod and resting on his shoulder whilst Borma stood and took in a more general view of the situation. Lastly, The Chief himself and Ishikawa were tuned in from Section 9's headquarters. For such a small room, Togusa thought, it was rather crowded. _'I don't think this is a hostage rescue situation,'_ he observed.

'_I agree, Chief,' _Batou added, _'Hamada's obviously turning over to their side. Why don't we turn this over to Saito and get it over and done with?' _

'_No,' Aramaki insisted, 'This situation is too complicated to be solved so simply. If Ayato is indeed planning on defecting to the American Empire it is more imperative that Section 9 find out precisely how wide this net is cast. '_

The Major smiled at Batou with a little shrug, raindrops swelling and falling from strands of her hair. She hadn't expected The Chiefto let him have his way and she suspected that if he was honest, Batou didn't either. _'Besides,' _she added, '_he might not have been forced there but he doesn't look entirely happy either does he?' _Motoko bit her lip in amusement when she caught sight of Batou's wounded expression. It might have been cruel to deliberately wind him up but it was true. _'Still,' _she continued, deciding to show a little faith in her colleague after all, _'being ready never hurt. Saito?'_

'_I'm here, Major,' _the sniper replied, glancing from his scope to the woman standing on the warehouse opposite him.

'_Switch to Hawk-Eye. Might as well keep a bead on him.'_ The Major was Section 9's field leader in situations like this so the call was hers to make and Batou nodded with a soft sound of approval at the compromise. It was close enough to gratitude for Motoko.

'_Yes, Ma'am,' _Saito acknowledged. He shifted his weight slightly, wrapping his right hand around the rifle's pistol grip and settling it firmly in his shoulder. There was a slight smile on his lips as he felt the stock press into his shoulder. It wasn't that he relished the prospect of killing, it was merely that people tend to take pleasure in what they can do well and when it came to marksmanship, Saito did very well indeed. He was a natural shot but that wasn't all. His left hand moved to the cover on his blind left eye to uncover the Hawk-Eye targeting system, the augmentation that let him target with the pin-point accuracy afforded him by GPS satellites. _'Switching to Eag,'_ he began and froze mid-word.

Saito's hand stopped, his sub-brain ceased broadcasting, he became as lifeless as a statue and Borma inhaled sharply beside him. _'Saito's cut out,' _Borma confirmed for everyone as he yanked connection wires from the dummy barrier he wore around his neck. The dummy barrier stood between his own sub-brain and anything he plugged into acting as a firewall to protect his delicate systems. _'I'm going to dive in and see what's happening, if he's been ghost hac,' _then he was as swiftly silenced as Saito. Almost instantaneously as the wires made contact with Saito's sub-brain it was enveloped in blue lightning-like sparks that destroyed the connection. Almost. There was enough time for the virus that had infected the sharp-shooter to jump through the barrier and straight into Borma first, however.

Togusa never knew about the fate that had befallen Saito and Borma. He never heard their broadcasts and although he didn't know it they weren't receiving his either. His own sub-brain had been isolated from the rest of the team. At the same moment Saito had frozen his own broadcasts had been silenced.

'_Major, Batou, what's going on? We've lost Togusa, Saito and Borma!' _Ishikawa was at Section 9, monitoring the broadcasts of the entire team's sub-brains, or had been before the signal from three of them had vanished. Ishikawa rarely lost his cool, so even the slightest sign of a shaken composure was enough to make Motoko share a concerned glance with Batou as he watched the scene across from him with his augmented eyesight.

'_Looks like ghost hacks,' _he informed those few agents still connected to the network.

'_Ghost hacks?' _Ishikawa never meant to sound as if he didn't believe Batou, he did, it was just that ghost hacks against Section 9 agents weren't common. In fact they were so rare that he was startled to hear it. There was one person whose opinion he'd trust over Batou's in these matters, _'Major?'_

'_He's right,' _Kusanagi confirmed flatly. _'Good too, whoever it is.'_ She looked at the still forms of Saito and Borma, turning to Batou with narrow eyes. Hacking a member of Section 9 was hard enough, through a dummy barrier it was virtually unheard of. Batou was worryingly still, face turned downward and unmoving. For just a moment she thought he had been taken too until he spoke.

"I see him, Major." He looked back to Motoko and pointed to a car in the street. Hearing him, not just receiving his broadcasts, caused a strange shiver to go through the Major after so much silence and she blinked once before glancing where he indicated. Batou's enhanced vision zoomed back in on the car and he might as well have stood 10 feet away. "Male, mid 20s," he continued. The man was thin, pale with a shaggy mane of dark brown hair. His eyes were shut fast and he sat rigidly in the driver's seat. It definitely looked like he was diving. He looked up again to the Major but the space she had occupied was nothing more than a disturbance of falling rain as Motoko Kusanagi's therm-optic camouflaged form flipped gracefully over the edge of the building.

The Major grabbed hold of a convenient drain pipe as she fell, controlling and slowing her descent. She wasn't particularly concerned about hitting the ground. Her cybernetic body could take tougher shocks than that. Had taken considerably tougher. Still, that kind of weight hitting the street with terminal velocity would have put a dent in road maintenance bills.

'_Why do they always run?' _She shared with Batou in grim humour as the vehicle abruptly started and sped away. How he'd seen her coming was a mystery; between his concentration on the ghost hack and her camouflage she should have been able to snap his neck before he ever knew she existed. How didn't matter though, only that he not get away.

'_Major, wait!' _Batou turned and slammed open the roof-access door, charging down the stairwell as he didn't share the Major's fondness for graceful and fearless descents. He knew it didn't really matter what he said, of course. The Major had the capability to keep pace with most cars and had a habit of proving it, back-up or not.

Today was no exception as clouds of water droplets were shocked airborne from the water slick street by the unnaturally heavy footfalls of a cyborg approaching 50mph in pursuit of her suspect. The Major could run her suspect down without even breaking a sweat, an advantage of a complete cyborg body augmentation.

By the time Batou emerged onto the street neither the car nor the Major were in sight. '_I've lost her, Chief.'_

'_Find her.' _The Chief sounded unnerved which, Batou reflected, was never a good sign.

'_We've lost her too,' _Ishikawa explained.

If his eyes had been natural, they would have widened. As it was his eyebrow raised almost imperceptibly. There weren't many hackers Batou would have given odds against the Major's cacophony of attack barriers and intruder mazes. Ishikawa maybe, a couple of category A's Section 9 had encountered in the past, but no more than he could count on one hand. Batou ran.

Motoko knew she had been cut off. That's all it was though. She hadn't been breached, her security was still intact. The loss of communication with the team was still disconcerting though. The hacker's biggest mistake was to give the Major any reason to be angry.

She launched from the street, falling towards the trunk of the car with her fingertips out, driving them through the metal. As her feet hit the ground and the car found itself dragging far more weight than it was designed to the sheet metal of its body work creased like paper behind her fingers, crumpling and rucking up until she latched onto something solid.

Water evaporated into steam and rubber squealed as it found tarmac and the car went nowhere. Shifting first one hand then the other under the body of the car, the Major lifted it, engine howling as its full force was suddenly unopposed and the wheels span free, but only for a moment. As quickly as she had raised it she powerfully drove it down, smiling a little as a satisfying crack signalled a severed axle.

Fleetingly, the Major considered that she'd been lucky that the car was rear-wheel drive. That the driver would no doubt have continued rear axle or not had he been able. Such thoughts were pushed aside, however, as she took the door off its hinges and dragged the young man out onto his back. She put a boot in his chest to keep him down and levelled her side-arm at him aiming squarely between his eyes.

A cyborg, even an attractive one, shivering out of therm-optic camouflage with you in her sights and her foot on top of you is a terrifying sight for most. This time, though, there was no terror apparent. Instead, her victim laughed. The laugh was hollow, humourless and brief. After laughing, the young man simply died. Motoko's arm relaxed, the pistol falling, unfired, to her side as she stared at the dead body under her. She lifted her foot and took a half step back. _'He's dead.'_

With his death, the ghost hacks ended. Saito's hand flicked open the cover of his Hawk-Eye and he focussed on his target. The target was gone. Togusa lay bleeding against the door of the store room, his 9mm still clutched in his hand. '_Man down, man down. _Saito broadcast urgently. _Togusa's wounded, targets missing.'_

Batou stopped sharply in the street, glancing back. Somewhere behind him was the warehouse but he and the Major had pursued the car so far and so blindly that even with his augmented eyesight it was too far to see a thing. He turned back to Motoko, standing beside the wreck that had been the dead man's getaway car, between its discarded door and the corpse. She looked back to him and he zoomed into her expression. What he saw left no doubt she had realised the same thing he had. Between Togusa, Saito and Borma being hacked and this car leading the two of them across the industrialised district, no one had been watching the warehouse. It was the very best distraction the American Empire could have possibly devised.

"The chief is not going to be happy."


	2. Chapter 1

(Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews to the prologue! I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated but I lost my password. As you can see I've reworked the account a little and am now under a different name and on a different email. However, I'm back. It's a short one I'm afraid but it's an update.

_Update: This document has been edited from its original form, for the curious, I changed the spelling of Batou and Borma's name to accurately reflect the spelling in the SAC credits._)

"In short," Aramaki said curtly, "the operation was a failure." The chief of Section 9 stood behind his desk looking at his assembled team. It wasn't often he had to dress them down for a badly run mission and he certainly didn't enjoy it. Sat nearest him was Motoko Kusanagi wearing her Tan military issue uniform. Her body was tense and her expression attentive. The man sat across from her couldn't be more different. Batou's feet were settled on the low coffee table and his thick jacket sat open over civilian dress. He was watching the chief as well but with his artificial eyes it was impossible to read any expression.

Saito, Borma and Ishikawa filled out the other seats on the couches with one noticable absence. "Togusa?" The Major spoke quietly and her concern was evident.

The chief nodded to her. "Is recovering. As a member of Section 7 he is also under guard by their own people." Batou cocked his head at that. "Technically for the moment he is a member of Section 7," the chief clarified. He paused a moment, "still, if they are incapable of keeping one of their own intelligence analysts on a leash I don't want them responsible for one of mine."

"Agreed," Batou spoke, "so who gets the baby-sitting gig?"

"Borma," the Chief replied looking across to him, "you'll be assigned to watch Togusa. I don't want you to interfere with Section 7's operations unless you absolutely have to. They still don't know who he is or that Section 9 is involved."

Borma nodded his understanding. "Not a problem, Chief, they'll never know I was there."

"Good," Aramaki took a step back and touched a control on the desk, lighting the display behind it. "Still I didn't call you all in here for nostalgia and well wishing." The display showed the face of the American that Hamada had been meeting with. "This man is Michael Wilson, a member of their own foreign administration. Both names rate high on the census for popularity so our people are working under the presumption of an assumed name. That would also explain how little we know about him. As for what we do, Major?"

Kusanagi stood and straightened her uniform jacket with her usual graceful efficiency of movement even as she stepped around the desk to stand with Aramaki. "Thank you, Chief. Wilson is a foreign office liason to the military in the American Empire. The official record shows him as a former General in their own military." She smiled thinly. "Service history is naturally classified. Infact even Ishikawa was unable to find anything."

Eyes moved from the Major to Section 9's resident tech wizard then back. "No," the Major answered the question in everyone's eyes, "Ishikawa is not losing his touch. There was nothing to be found. That's why we're assuming it's a false identity."

"That figures." Batou crossed his arms and slouched deeper in the sofa. "So a man who doesn't exist meets with one of Section 7's people, everything goes to hell, we get Ghost Hacked and Togusa ends up in hospital."

"Another day at the office," Saito said with a grin.

Motoko cleared her throat with a gentle rap of her knuckles on the desk. "Everything went to hell. Yes. So we should be concentrating on this one." With the team suitably admonished she continued. "What we have managed to find are details of his movements recently. The general has been stationed in the former nation state of Zambia, supposedly with the American Empire's peace keeping force. Another smokescreen, I'm afraid, as there's no records of his activities there. We do have transit records from the Zambian authorities though. The General has been seen travelling in and out of the country." She shrugged slightly and the screen blanked. "That's all we know."

"What gets me," Ishikawa muttered, his face becoming mobile again from the near-trance like concentration he had a habit of slipping into, "is quite what was going on. If Hamada is defecting why did he trigger the investigation that tumbled his extraction? For that matter if he was going willingly what was with the flop-sweat?" He stirred in his seat, glancing at the team then to the Major. "If it wasn't voluntary, why was he there?"

"And why," the Chief interrupted, "was he carrying a diplomatic case and what was inside it?" Everyone seemed interested in that point. "Ishikawa, did we learn anything from the puppet the Major recovered at the scene?"

"Hmm?" He shook himself slightly having slipped off into thought again at the Chief's question. "Sorry. There wasn't a lot to learn, Chief. The puppet was just that. What I can tell you is that he wasn't responsible for the ghost hacks. Circumstancial evidence aside his sub-brain just didn't have the capacity to carry that many signals. He was a distraction."

Batou gripped his chin and made a quiet contemplative thought. "Sometimes ruling things out is just as useful I suppose. Now at least we know there's a hacker out there with the capability to take down a Section 9 agent."

"Perhaps more than one," Ishikawa corrected, "few people could have the capacity to take down that many well defended targets in that short a timespan."

"In short, we know that we don't know anywhere near enough." The Chief's voice was stern again. "Major, Batou, you will return to the warehouse and investigate directly. Perhaps you can find something to give us a lead." He turned to Saito. "Saito, you're going to go with Ishikawa. You'll both be looking into our puppet. I want to know who he was, where he came from. I want to know when and where he was hacked." Heads nodded. "Well then, you have your orders, next time we meet I want to have something more useful to talk about."


	3. Chapter 2

"Flowers, for me?" Togusa sat up as best as he could and grinned. Borma inclined his head and returned the grin with an unmistakable look whilst he put the bouquet in a vase on Togusa's bed side table. "What's the occasion?"

"Oh stow it," Borma muttered, pulling up a chair. At least, he thought, Togusa was in good spirits. The bandages around his chest were clean and there was no evidence of bleeding in them but the drip connected to his arm reminded anyone who looked that Togusa was not a well man. "They're from some mutual friends."

'_There's an encryption coded cyber-brain relay planted in them,'_ Borma continued, _'Section 9's encryption naturally. It'll let me keep an eye on you right out from under the Section 7 goons at your door.'_

"I appreciate the thought." Borma nodded with a smile. "What brings you to visit then?"

"My turn?" Borma shrugged. "Everyone else was busy. Saito feels just awful about you being in here too. I guess he's got a better idea than most how bad that," he gestured to Togusa's chest, "must have hurt. I guess he also feels a bit more responsible too."

"Really?" Togusa shifted, almost managing to disguise the wince. "No need."

'_We all knew that was a risky operation, Borma. It's not the first time I've been shot on duty either. I admit, though, I'm getting pretty sick of it. Perhaps it is time I went full cyber.'_

'_I don't know, didn't the Major hire you in precisely because you weren't? To give us a mix-up of operatives?' _They chatted inconsequentially aloud for the benefit of the Section 7 eavesdroppers whilst they continued to talk.

'_You're right. Just, why is it always me getting shot up?'_

'_You?'_ Borma's eyebrows raised and he couldn't help but smile. _'Did you even see what was left of the Major's last body? No, you're not the only one getting shot up, Togusa, you're just the only one who feels it.'_

'_OK so no cyberization for the token human, I get it, but maybe I should learn to snipe and stay out of harm's way like Saito?' _There was humour in his voice but Togusa really was developing concerns about his role in Section 9. _'How'd we do after it hit the fan anyway?'_

Grateful for the change of topic Borma leapt into the debrief. _'Not great. We lost Hamada and the Americans at the scene. The Major and Batou chased down a car and got the driver but he was just a puppet. That means we don't know who did the hacking on our guys either.' _

Borma leant back in his chair, his cyberized weight testing its durability. _'The Major and Batou should be back at the warehouse right now checking it out. Saito and Ishikawa are looking into the puppet. If he was hacked by the same guy or group that got us we might get something from him.'_

Togusa straightened. _'Oh hell, I didn't tell anyone at the time!'_

'_Tell us what?'_

'_I got a couple of shots off before I was hit. The first was a tracker round. I got it in the American's cyborg buddy.'_

'_Some good news!'_ Borma sat straight and glanced slightly to the side. _'Major?'_

'_I was listening, Borma.'_ The Major's voice entered into the silent conversation easily. _'Well,' _she went on in a note of explanation, _'I'm allowed to be worried about Togusa as well aren't I?'_

-

"What is it?" Batou always recognised when the Major was off diving. It was the far away look in those red eyes that she refused to close. "Your ghost whispering?" He flicked his cigarette to the ground and pushed off the door jam. The warehouse had been a bust so far. Apparently someone had got there before them and done a good clean up job.

Motoko turned to face him with a smile. "No, just a break. Togusa put a tracker round in our cyborg friend in the fire fight. Seems he's just seen fit to let us know."

"Well well, good for him." Batou shrugged his shoulders, leaning his arms back as if to stretch. "I don't suppose it's still in range?"

"As a matter of fact I just picked it up." She took one last look around the plain brick-walled room and it's rusted half-fallen shelving. "If I'm reading this right the signals coming from a hotel's underground parking facility. It sure beats this place, right?"

"Then why are we still here, Major?" The big cyborg grinned like a mischievous child. "I'll get the car."

-

"Not a damn thing." Ishikawa pushed the well worn office chair back from the dead puppet's terminal. The apartment was a small one, fairly typical of the industrial district's residential fringes. Laundry that hadn't been washed in days, at best, was liberally strewn over furniture that had been cheap and sub-par when it was bought. Now it was a liability. Saito looked up from his journey through the man's cupboards with a soft noise of enquiry. "Personal messages, a history of hitting sites about baseball and some rather disturbing adult pursuits but not a thing that would hint at any criminal involvement."

Ishikawa ran his palm over his beard as he studied the blanked screen, shaking his head. "Poor bastard never had a thing to do with it, probably never knew. How're you doing?"

"Well he was armed," Saito said, holding an electronic pistol out by it's trigger guard. It was a cheap mass-production self defence weapon. Cheap but effective. It would send a natural heart into violent palpitations and cause serious control issues for civilian grade prosthetics but it wasn't the weapon of choice for armed criminals. "That is, if you can call this thing 'armed'. Self defence more than likely. If he liked Baseball maybe he was worried about rough fans?"

Ishikawa laughed a rather mirthless laugh. "In other words what we have here is an average guy with an average life. Damn it, we're Section 9, average isn't meant to enter into it."

"He's also dead. Say what you want but the ghost hacks died when he did. Even if he didn't do it and I do believe you that he couldn't have, he was involved." Saito tossed the gun back into the cupboard he'd got it from to rest back on a pile of crumpled baseball jerseys. "That means he stands out at least a little."

The older man grunted his agreement with a bob of the head. "What'd the landlord have to say?"

"Never missed his rent, no complaints, no regular visitors." Saito grinned. "So 'normal' I was expecting us to find evidence he was a serial killer in here."

"Well he was a grounds-man at the local stadium. I guess that's our next stop. I'll let the chief know we're moving on." Ishikawa opened a call to Section 9.

'_Chief, Ishikawa here.'_

'_Ishikawa, good. How are you and Saito doing?' _The chief, Ishikawa noted thankfully, was back to his old self. Gruff and impatient but no longer worried or angry.

'_I wish I had better news,' _and given the chief's recent return to mood Ishikawa really meant it, _'but we haven't found a thing. His home life was as normal as it could be. We're going to check out the stadium where he worked now.'_

'_No,' _Ishikawa looked to Saito confused, _'send Saito by all means but I want you back here, Ishikawa. I just got the clearance to open up Section 7's private databases for our inspection and I want you on it.'_

"Well that's over due." Saito commented with a smile.

"No kidding," Ishikawa mused, "I wonder how the chief scored that one."

"Ours is not to reason why," Saito shrugged, "especially where the chief's back room talents are concerned. Now just go get us a lead. I can cope on my own you know."


	4. Chapter 3

"My name is Saito, I'm from public security, Section 9." Saito held up his ID and tried to look as non-threatening as possible. The senior grounds keeper for the Serano Genomics Warriors glanced at the ID and slipped his cap from his head in a mark of respect.

"What can I do for you, Mr Saito did you say it was?" He scrunched the cap into his hand at his side with a forced smile. He had a job to do and with the team returning from a lengthy road trip the pressure was on him to get the field looking perfect by dusk. What with his already being short staffed that day his mood was short but he didn't feel like jeopardising his job by questioning living proof that the mythical Section 9 existed and wanted a word, with him.

"It's about one of your employees, Mr Akihara. Jiro Kamimura to be precise?" The grounds keeper sagged, eyes turning downward. "Do you know something about Mr Kamimura, Sir?"

"All I know for sure is that he didn't show for work today," the man glanced out across the field from where he and Saito stood at home plate. The automated mowers were making their slow way across the grass, sprinklers firing intermitantly and most of his assigned staff were milling around at their assigned tasks with one notable exception.

"No, I imagine not. My apologies for having to be the one to inform you, Mr Akihara, but he died in the course of our investigations two nights ago." Saito placed a hand on Akihara's shoulder but the bigger man tensed under it, taking no comfort.

"Investigations? Man, I knew it was weird but we all figured, hell, so long as the woman's old enough what does it matter if the prosthetic's young enough to-" he paused, swallowing as he met Saito's eye. "Look if he's taken that sick little fantasy of his and he's hurt-"

"Whoah!" Saito's eye was wide from the sudden impassioned response. "No, it wasn't anything like that, I assure you." The sniper frowned. That was a sudden explosion, very defensive. Perhaps their man hadn't been as normal as things had original suggested. _'Ishikawa?' _

'_I'm here. What can I do for you, Saito?' _Back at the Section 9 building Ishikawa popped the viewers from their braced position on his shoulders, leaning back to give his eyes a rest as he concentrated on the transmission. The green binocular type arrangement eased upwards on its support arms, lifting away from him like a roller-coaster support bar.

'_You said something about our guy Kamimura having some odd adult sites on his history, yeah?' _Saito watched Akihara sweating. _'Wouldn't have been for underage prosthetics, all nice and legal with a grown woman's brain case of course?'_

'_How the hell did you know that?' _Ishikawa drummed his fingers on the chair rest. _'No wait, I figure his colleagues have been giving you the inside story?'_

'_Yeah. Sick bastard. Just wanted to make sure that's what we were dealing with. Turns out our man might have done more than look.'_ Saito terminated the call and leant back against the wall. "Seems we did have some intelligence about his odd tastes, but he was actually apprehended for suspected hacking of public security officers." Somehow it didn't feel right to admit it was Section 9 members themselves who'd been hacked to a man whose job boiled down to highly specialised gardener.

"That idiot?" Akihara looked intently confused. "Jori Kamimura? We are talking about the same guy, right?"

"You seem surprised." Akihara nodded. "Why?"

"Cause the damn fool needed help just getting onto public sites, that's why!" Akihara laughed. "Hell we set him up with a terminal in the basement. Some technical know-how's involved in this job, believe it or not. We need to program the mowers, sprinklers not to mention all our time keeping's online. We're sponsored by Serano Gernomics after all. A god-send to our technical resources but a pain in the ass to a ludite like Jori."

"I see. You wouldn't mind if I looked at this terminal?" Saito smiled.

"Help yourself." Akihara pulled a bundle of key-cards from his pocket, slipping one out of its clip and handing it over. "Apparently he doesn't need it any more."

-

The corridor was a non-descript affair with all the decoration and pageantry saved for above ground where the fans would see it. There was just one problem as far as Saito could see it. If the room he was down here to investigate was Kamimura's private hide-away, Kamimura was dead and Saito himself had the grounds keeper's master key then why was the door already open.

Wishing he had his tactical suit on, something other than his side arm or even that he wasn't on his own the sniper prepared himself for something a little more up close and personal as he pressed to the side of the door. There was definitely someone in there, he could hear them moving. _'Ishikawa?' _

This time Ishikawa left his eyes in the visualisation module. _'Here.'_

'_I've got something here. I'll explain later just… keep the link open. I think I'm about to walk into trouble.'_ Saito took a breath readying himself for the room assault.

'_Want me to dispatch support units?' _As Ishikawa asked the question, Saito threw himself around the doorway, squaring his sights.

"Public security, hold it right there." The first thing that hit him was the guy's size. He was small, not particularly threatening looking. He whipped around in surprise at the challenge and tightened visibly. His eyes were tight and blank, red discs of blank metal filled his eye sockets.

Suddenly the man left the floor, bracing a foot on the desk which collapsed behind him as he propelled his body to the door. Saito fired one round and it hit the unexpected intruder square in the chest. As he dropped, Saito saw the terminal which must have been Kamimura's under one of his arms. Stepping forward he never expected the man to spring back to his feet.

His assailant spun, one foot rising in a perfectly placed kick. Saito didn't have time to bring his pistol to bare, instead he instinctively threw his arm in the way of the blow. Saito was almost entirely human but his left eye had been replaced with the hawk-eye targeting system. Equally, his arm had been replaced to provide perfect stability to his sniper rifle. Thankfully that meant it was also as strong as anything the Major or Batou had to offer. He hadn't had time to turn off the sensory receptors, however and the blow sent him across the small room and into the concrete wall. _'Yes, damn it, yes.'_

Ishikawa glanced at Saito's vitals display on the visualiser when he heard the panic in the man's voice and swallowed. He didn't know that his near human partner had been sent into an unyielding concrete wall but he saw the damage clearly. Saito's heart rate had elevated alarmingly, his endorphin level had skyrocketed. A sure sign of some serious pain. It looked like he was losing blood as well. _'I'm on it.'_

Saito shook his head to rid it of the haze that had fallen over his eyes when his back struck the concrete. "Damn." He pushed himself to his feet. "Damn!" The cyborg was gone. Still Saito hadn't blacked out as best as he could tell which meant it hadn't gone far. Stepping out of the door he looked up and down the corridor, wondering which way he must have run.

-

The archaic yellow Italian mid-engine sports car that was Batou's pride and joy came smoothly to a stop for the traffic lights in sight of the hotel he was making for. Whilst he waited for the lights to change he watched as a large aircraft swept around in a circle from the park opposite the hotel, its wings sweeping from vertical take off mode to flight whilst its rear ramp closed. Emerging from the park below was a small blue multi-ped tank. "Not often the cavalry gets there first, huh, Major?"

"I'm sure they'll be delighted to see you, Baotu." The Major replied with a slight smile, watching the think tank.

Batou chuckled to himself as the lights changed and he rolled up the last few hundred yards to the hotel's parking entrance, stopping and rolling down the window as he approached.

"Mr Batou!" The think tank's child-like voice was filled with excitement. To the tachikomas, every day they got let out of the Section 9 building was a game and as far as they were concerned no game was so much fun it couldn't be improved by working with Batou.

Batou himself didn't understand their strange affection for him but he returned it gladly. "Tachikoma. Glad you could make it. You know why you're here?"

"We're going to watch the exits so that if the bad guys try and get out we follow them." The tachikoma bounced, its eyeball swivelling, taking its three socketed eye from Batou to the other tachikoma following behind it. "That's right isn't it, Mr Batou?"

"You got it, pal, I'll see you soon." He smiled and turned into the garage, descending from the street to the hotel's basement.

"I told you so." The Major shook her head, amused.


End file.
